Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-05-16
= fas,easter J1teili9er,fss.
LANCAsTER, MAY ls. 1851.
The BaRale Verdict.

80 Bu6Alo trial OF the Everests has un-
poe1edly resulted in . verdict of guilty.
10 w. enough in the evidence to secure
- vscdict, but there was question as to
- Soliability OF the testimony for the
conmouwealth. It Wis suit brought at
~ insaancs Of those interested in Buffalo
u Is6neey, that was crushed by the
1nn6ard monopoly; about this there was
~ question, and It was the fundamental
~ upon which the verdict was doubtless
nsed. It has been the common fate that
- beeallen al oil reineries that have been
O1nkted IN opposition to the monopoly, and
AAuu b NO doubt in this case that the
yuWe Of the Standard company was un.
GEupulouSly used to bring the Buffalo
So0ney to ruin; the single ques.
11oo vas whether the means em.
y1ey1o bod been such as to expose those
Mo used them to the penalties of the
ogininA law. The witnesses for the state
1og1insd to such means. The chief thing
SWugn TO By them was that ono of the orig.
1nnoou Of the Buffalo refinery, and the
J, PRACTICAL man in the concern, had been
bE1bod b. the Standard to be false to his
: enDuciates and TO blow up their works
falling in which, they caused him to will /.
1saw from the concern and leave it with.
cut anyone capable Of conducting it. This
~ testified to by the man himself and
eAere was some corroborating evidence.
Upon the side Of the defendants it was
claimed that the prosecutors had built the
Es6nery for the purpose-of selling out to
the Standard, which had resisted the black.
mailing operation. 1t was claimed that
nothing unlawful had been done in shut
ting up the Buffalo concern that it was
closed In lawful business competition, and
that the witness Who testified to his own
wrong4oi1g was not worthy of belief.
IYkere were three members Of the
Standard company jointly indicted with
the two Everests, who conducted tht
refining company which fought the battl,
with the Buffalo concern. The Everest
owned twenty five per cent. of the stock O
this company and the other de
PENDANTS seventy.fve per cent. Th,
court directed the acquittal Of th,
latter, because no evidence was produced
directly against them. But as the claim
: of the state was that the Everests acted
9 under the instruction of the majorit,
owners, 1t is not clear that the court die
right TO discharge the majority from the in
oictments and leave their agents to bear it.
brunt. It might have been very fair in
tsrsnce for the jury to draw that, in this
& peolonged and bitter contest to destroy the
rival concern, the owners of the Vacuum
on refinery had full knowledge of the Grim.
inAl acts OF their agents, il they did not
bCompt them, as the state claims.
The court very probably saved these
+ man by Withdrawing them from the in.
dictment, as the jury would hardly have
drawn of its own accord any very fine dis
tinctions to save the principals when con
dsmning the agents. The verdict may hav,
hsen chiefly secured by the bad odor of tn
Standard cOmpsny;and the public judgmen
= that It 10 not likely that it has done an
+ Injustice, save In 30 far as it Furnishes onl
~ instruments of the crime. 1t is safe t,
4 NJ that public opinion is well settledin tn
belief that all the members Of the STANDARD
on company have earned prison cell ovel
and over again, If the truth could be made
known under the rules Of evidence.